I think the key bit is this:

But what Banks can do better than those four, and a host of other published SF writers, is create believable characters whose motivations mesh with the unlikely locations and situations he sets for them.

Which was what I meant when I said that he just doesn't let the ideas and concepts do the heavy lifting.

Don't get me wrong, I grew up on - and learned most of my English from - the likes of Clarke, Asimov, Heinlein, Niven, Harrison, Bradbury et. al. But I find Banks and MacLeod - and even Gibson and Stephenson - to be more interesting reads now, because they're developing the genre of SF beyond the stakes set out by the groundbreakers. Of the classic SF writers I grew up on, the only one I find to be a really good writer in the literary sense is probably Bradbury. I find Banks to be a much better wordsmith and stylist, and I feel the same way about Gene Wolfe, J.G. Ballard (although he's arguably from the old school) and even Neil Gaiman (even if he's primarily a comic book writer).

There's nothing wrong with having a grounding in the classics of the genre, and if that had been the question, the responses would have been entirely appropriate, but...there have been SF books written after 1975, after all.

The Invaders of Charon Trilogy:

* The Genesis Web (C.M. Brennan, May 1992, ISBN 1-56076-093-1)
* Nomads of the Sky (William H. Keith Jr., Oct 1992, ISBN 1-56076-098-2)
* Warlords of Jupiter (William H. Keith Jr., Feb 1993, ISBN 1-56076-576-3)

These are very good and the plausibility of the story is one I really like. Think Vger but with a f-ing vengeance.

Don't know if you can still find them, but maybe your local library might have a copy.

I thought I would post non-classic stuff.

But then I realized that "Rendezvous with RAMA" is one of my all time favorites.

"The Mote in Gods Eye" by Larry Niven is also excellent.

But if you are looking for true classics, look no further than . I love all of his work. His suicide (and hence no more writings) is a tragic loss to all Sci-Fi fans.


CCotD'

Fritz Lieber's Ill Met in Lankhmar looks perfect for summer reading, thanks for that tip!

And look, a reference to Alfred Bester in the page about H. Beam Piper. Which took me to Alfred Bester's wikipedia page where I found THIS:

"Homages to Bester

Bester has been memorialized by other science fiction writers in their own works. Notably, the character of Psi-Cop Alfred Bester is named after him (and the treatment of telepathy in Babylon 5 is similar to that in Bester's works), as is the time-travelling pest named Al Phee in Spider Robinson's Callahan's Crosstime Saloon series. (Bester was known as "Alfie" to many of his friends.)"

Isn't the internet a wonderful thing?

Please tell me that somebody else has read "The Stars My Destination".

Elle

Gosh that review on Amazon for Invaders of Charon is not helpful. One review, one sentence: "I really thought it was a great book." Not the work of anyone at WWG.

Elle

Aye, and that's just what I'm saying Zenguy, look at the few authors on your list, your obviously a big scifi fan, yet that is a very small list of authors after 75. Compare that to the few hundred that are or have written in that time and your talking one paltry small percentage of good writers, just saying .

I'm just not sure I have as pessimistic view of modern Sci-Fi as you do, SD.
History has a marvelous way of making the great stand out (even if it went relatively unnoticed at the time) and the mundane fade into insignificance.

I'd guess notable sci-fi books have appeared at the rate of about one per year, probably less - I'm not sure the rate is really any lower now. As for notable authors; well many of the well known earlier sci-fi authors weren't exactly the best writers, they just came up with some of the ideas first; and some of the best Sci-Fi writers are really known for just one or two books (e.g. Zelazny who made his name writing quality sci-fi, but only appeared in this thread as the author of the Amber fantasy series.)

There are a whole host of sci-fi novels published each year and, I confess, I tend to ignore most of them - being able to cherry pick the best from 100+ years of a genre does tend to leave my expectations set very high.

Personally, i think the biggest problem with sci-fi these days is not the writing, which I think is overall pretty good, but the editing: what would make a superb 200 page novel tends to get dragged out to 300 or 500 pages, or worse gets spun out to a multi-part series. (Case in point: JK Rowling's editor seems to have died somewhere around the end of The Prisoner of Azkaban and appears to have been replaced by nothing more than a cheap spelling and grammar checker.)

That said, I'm always on the look out for great recommendations

Heh, I don't have a pessimistic view of modern scifi, I don't mind reading almost anything that comes my way, if it catches me, pulls me in or the writing is superb I'll likely end up reading it right thru in one sitting, if it's not that great I'll finish it but I'm in no hurry, hell, admittedly I read the crap right thru too (unless it's just too bad).

I think for me it's more like there is a plug blocking the release of modern scifi writings, same with fantasy. It is just a matter of time before that plug blows and we find ourselves in another wave of good writings. The attitudes of society can change the perspectives for an author. There were a large amount of good writers before 75 and it is hard for most newer writers to look at their brilliant works and think they can compare, puts off alot of aspiring writers I know, and some are very talented (few even bother to publish finished works). Heh, for awhile I was one of these, if it weren't for the few I've let read my work and the pressure they put on me to get it out there I wouldn't believe I'm any good, they hang on the edge for the next chapter or section to be finished and all I see when I look at it is something I sometimes wonder why I bother with (lol, my own worst critic). I have to say, I think anime and manga coming over from Japan is going to have a pretty big influence on the next generation of writers since it is becoming very popular throughout the rest of the world.

I don't need a pessimistic view of modern scifi, the numbers speak for themselves, I'm writing myself, and waiting for new authors to add to those numbers of good authors, but I've read most of what has been mentioned in this thread (with one or two exceptions and I look forward to reading those) and I can say compared to pre 75 the numbers just don't pan out, there were far more writers of upper quality before than there are now. We are surrounded by technological advancements everyday, stuff that we once read about in scifi, it puts a rift in the imagination that previous authors could use and rely on (lol, probably why some of my favorite scifi at this time contains tech that still isn't feasable or available, ala hovercars, Mechs, robots, colonization, aliens, starships). We lost the tech influence on scifi, now we just need people to remember there is much more to scifi than tech and the good writers will come out of the woodwork again. More of a matter of patience for that plug to blow, aye there will be more crap, but at the same time there will be more good writings too.

It has been quite awhile since I have gone thru my lists of notable favorites Zenguy, so far your getting most of them listed by others so all I'm doing right now is threadjacking . Interesting topic, but not part of what you asked. I am interested to see what comes from others who don't post as frequently, even having two more books to add to my interest list was worth this topic and I thank ya for posting it. I do have to say, there probably aren't many more than were recommended above though , here's hoping. There are at least two good books I read when I was in highschool that I'm trying to find now that havn't been listed yet. Both fall under the catagory your looking at and I havn't seen either listed but I'll be damned if I can remember name or title of either, they were from a school councellors personal library and I got to read them because they were trying to get me interested in something and my only hobby at the time was reading. I have never seen either since and I have looked, too bad I didn't care for authors names or titles when I was younger, had the same view of bands, musicians and the names of songs, just didn't care too learn then, much different now .

As I mentioned before, most good scifi coming out now is anime/manga related, and not I think quite what your looking for .

Edit: On a side note, I have seriously considered posting the prologue for "Humanities End" here on WW's as I respect the opinions and intelligence of most people here and would love to get comments and critisism of my writing style. I find gamer/scifi/fantasy fans have a broader imagination than most and at the same time are more grounded in good quality work than most as we are exposed to a much broader ideal of scifi than those that just read and don't go for interaction. Plus our imaginations show in our builds and we have some very imaginative people here .

It kind of falls somewhere between both Sci-Fi and Fantasy, while keeping feet in both, but I can't give enough praise to the 4 book series, Otherland, by Tad Williams. Fantastic... especially if you've ever played an online game...

Arabin